Members of the audience enjoy a story being told by Bil Lepp during a previous year's Southern Ohio Storytelling Festival. Lepp is scheduled to perform in this year's festival as well.

Written by

| Special to the Gazette

A decade ago, local businessman and storyteller Bill McKell realized a dream of his to bring some of the best national, regional and local storytellers together in Chillicothe once a year to share with the community the true art behind storytelling.

This weekend, he will mark the 10th anniversary of the Southern Ohio Storytelling Festival by again performing alongside that talent in a three-day celebration of stories weaving together music, humor, history, mystery, drama, tradition and imagination.

McKell's love of the art of storytelling as entertainment prior to starting the ...